Afterward
by wispedheart
Summary: After the events of the war, things are slowly calming down. But now that the creatures the government previously used as weapons have revolted, how long will that peace actually last? Howl x Sophie, based after the movie.
1. Chapter 1

**Little Howl's Moving Castle after story. Cause I love HMC xD Notice, I haven't read the book, mostly because I'm too poor and I can't find it at the closest bookstores. If there's anything in here that you want to be similar to the book, TELL ME ABOUT IT. I'd _love_ to know anything I can about the book, to make this better than just what I've seen from my childhood movie. I re-watched it the other day, so hopefully my characterization is correct. Reviews are appreciated! ^.^**

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The sound of a door snapping shut was what woke Sophie late that night. Rather than blinking a few times before closing her eyes once more, as most people would do, she sat straight up in bed, her eyes wide. Those same eyes slipped to the windows a moment later, a hopeful light sparkling within them, in-concealable. _Is he home?_ The thought echoed in her mind a few times, leading her out of the covers and to the window sill, glancing down below them. Far off, a landscape glittered, partially covered by clouds and the darkness of night. All that was visible was the twinkling lights of a town below. She had always loved the view from the "castle" that she had first stumbled into on the Wastes, but now that it was flying, rather than walking, the view had only become all the more beautiful. Any other time, she would have paused, simply wishing to watch the world go by her. Today, however, her mind was occupied by something else.

Spinning toward the door, Sophie rushed out of her room, not sparing even a moment of pause as she ran down the hallway and the stairs, her bare feet slapping on the wooden floor. He was here, right? What had woken her up wasn't just a fragment of a fading dream? She hoped dearly that it wasn't. Pausing on the stairs just as she was low enough to see the room below, Sophie felt a smile grow on her face at the situation below her. Seated by the fire, speaking quietly to Calcifer was the exact person she had been hoping against hope had arrived tonight.

"Howl?" the name slipped past her lips unbidden. Both of the voices fell silent, two pairs of eyes turning in her direction, curiosity gleaming in both.

"You should be asleep, dear heart," her love replied, peering at her from behind dark locks of hair. Even as he spoke, however, he stood, a small grunt escaping him as he did so. Jumping down the rest of the steps, Sophie didn't notice his wince, running to him, her arms flinging around his torso, hugging him to her tightly. A sharp breath of pain was pulled in above her, a hand coming down to run over her hair, flattening the silver locks against her head. "Gently, love," he said, planting a small kiss atop her head, his voice wavering, despite his sweet words. "I am not quite unharmed, this time."

"You're hurt?" Sophie asked, her eyes widening. Stepping back, she looked him carefully up and down. "Where?"

"Upper back," Calcifer cut in, reminding them both of her presence. "I would have called you down, but he wouldn't let me."

Having turned to look at Calcifer as he spoke, Sophie turned back to Howl now, her gaze hard. "Howell Jenkins," she said threateningly. "Shirt off. Now."

"Not the situation I was hoping you'd ask that in," Howl murmured softly, though he obediently dropped his coat onto the chair, beginning to unbutton his shirt. Sophie could tell now that he was hurting, where before she'd been to excited to notice. His movements were much slower and more careful than they usually were.

"It wasn't a question," she replied coolly, lifting her arms and crossing them over her chest, waiting for her order to be followed. In the fireplace beside her, Calcifer sunk down to hide under the logs, not wanting to be part of this situation anymore.

After a few moments of tense silence, in which Sophie glanced over at the stairs, hoping that they hadn't woken Markl, Howl finally finished unbuttoning his shirt, pulling it off carefully to avoid jostling his back. Sophie swallowed softly, averting her eyes after a small glance. Even knowing that he was hurt, seeing him bare chested set her heart pounding a bit too hard for her liking. Even that one glance had given her a good view, his torso slightly shined from exertion and the firelight. Controlling herself, she moved around him to his back, a small gasp drawn from her lips at the sight she saw.

A large, purpling bruise covered his back, stretching from the base of his neck to near the small of his back, puckered in some places, as if something had pierced the skin multiple times. Blood oozed in those places, and the skin around the cuts was darker than the rest of his injury. Even the most healthy spots in the bruise were a bright red, a red that made you think they would probably follow the rest in purpling sometime soon.

 _"Howl,"_ she breathed, one hand coming up to hover over him, fearful to touch it, just in case even the slightest touch would hurt him. The other hand came up to her mouth, covering it, as if to hide the expression that was plain on her face. It looked as if somebody had tortured him.

"It's not all that bad," he replied to her, not daring to move. "Nothing a healing potion can't fix, and time as well. One of them was a bit stronger than I thought. I got slammed into a cliff rather hard. I wasn't in my other form at the time."

A small shake of her head was all she could seem to manage for a moment. Despite his reassuring words, her heart pounded in her chest, twice as fast has it had been before, driven on by fear this time. Quickly, she regathered herself, turning and rushing to the sink, grabbing hold of one of the towels, wetting it down a bit before making her way back over.

"Calcifer, warm some water for a bath, please. Not too hot, or it'll hurt him." For once, the fire demon didn't complain or argue, only muttering a small affirmative as Sophie dabbed at the open parts of the wound gently, trying to get some of the blood away so she could see how deep they were. "Start walking up the stairs, Howl," she said. _"Slowly."_

"You don't have to remind me," Howl said softly, obediently making his way up the stairs. Part of Sophie was surprised Howl wasn't complaining in some way, shape or form. Perhaps, he realized she wasn't in the mood, or maybe his heart was allowing him to withstand the pain. It had been put back in his chest nearly six months ago, after all. It must have done some growing by now.

The journey up the stairs, however, was obviously not an easy one for him. He moved nearly as slowly as she had the first morning she had dealt with as a ninety year old woman. The movement clearly pained him a lot, and part of Sophie ached to hold him, and wished to make all of the pain disappear. She hated that he was hurting so much, and all she could do was ready a bath and a potion. Even that would need his help, as she didn't know the ingredients to a healing potion. Eventually, however, they did make it to the top of the stairs, after which the journey to the bathroom was much smoother. Once inside, Sophie released Howl for a moment, going to the bath and turning the water on, pausing a moment to let her hand run under the faucet, checking the temperature. Luckily for the fire demon, Calcifer had gotten it perfect. It was just a bit warmer than room temperature, but warm enough that it would be soothing.

"Okay, what bottles make this healing potion you mentioned?" Sophie asked, moving towards the cabinets, giving Howl some privacy to finish undressing and get into the bath. Suddenly, she realized what was required for her to give Howl a bath, and a blush spread over her cheeks, taking over her face like a wildfire. Angling her body further away from Howl, she opened the cabinets, trying to focus on his answer, and his answer only, rather than the situation itself.

This answer came in a series of bottle colors and amounts, leaving Sophie dizzy with it's surprising complexity. For a few minutes, all she did was rush back and forth between the tub and the cabinets, her gaze angled pointedly away from Howl each time she had to turn to him to put a new amount of potion into the bath. Her expression was what she hoped was cool and collected, as if he were simply sitting in a chair chatting with her. When she finally finished the potion, turning off the water a few seconds later, Sophie leaned against the wall for a moment. The sensation of breathlessness she got after moving quickly just after unexpectedly waking up was catching with her, stealing her ability to take in air for a moment.

"Soak in that for a few minutes, then," she said, "Then I'll come up in a bit and dress your back when you're done."

"That's fine," came his reply, and she nodded in his general direction before moving to the door, opening it and stepping out. Closing the door behind her firmly, she sighed, a yawn coming to her unbidden.

"It's late," she muttered to herself, heading back downstairs. She knew she should probably call Markl to come and help Howl bathe, but it didn't feel right waking him at this hour. Besides, Howl shouldn't move too much for now. He could take a proper bath tomorrow, when he felt a bit better.

"How is he?" Calcifer asked as she reached the bottom. His voice was soft, as if he feared angering her again.

"Hell be fine, he just needs rest," Sophie replied, going to the cabinet and pulling out some bandages. "If he tries to leave again tomorrow morning and go after those wizard-beast things again, could you try to block the door until I get down here?"

"Sure," Calcifer replied simply, watching her as she moved about the room. "I can move now, so I can just sit in front of the door. Even Howl wouldn't be stupid enough to walk through fire."

"Thank you," she said softly, going and sitting down in the chair before the fire, setting the bandages in her lap. "He's being such an idiot."

"Isn't he always?" Calcifer asked, reaching out and pulling a log into his flames. "He wants all the war aftermath to be over with."

"I know," Sophie said, reaching up and pushing her hair away from her eyes. "But he can't just lock away all those mages on his own. And those who try to help him are no use; most of them don't know magic. And I know you've taken some down too, but even two just isn't enough."

"All the remaining wizards are too scared to go against them," Calcifer said. "So two is the best we've got. Sulliman is too busy with the kingdom to help out."

"Yes, she is," Sophie agreed, shaking her head. Sighing, she stood, smiling at the little fire demon. "I'm going to go get a few things ready and then bandage him up. If I don't come back down tonight, sleep well, Calcifer."

"Good night, Sophie," he replied, watching as the girl turned and started her journey back up the stairs.

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 **Taadaa! Stopping there, for now ^.^ Thanks for reading! I won't start another chapter of this until I have at least 3 reviews requesting more. Simply because I don't want to waste my time on something that nobody will actually read.**

 **~Wisp**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hiya! This is chapter two of the HMC fanfic! You guys seemed to like it, so I'll make sure to keep it active now ^^ Sorry it took so long to update! Have a good day! (Yes this was mostly fluff and I have no regrets) Thanks to** **Ai Hakuren, Despondant Torpor,** **and** **IgneelsTears** **, as well as all of you guests for the kind reviews :D**

 **IgneelsTears: I made sure to run it through 2 different programs on spell checking and such this time, as well as my usual read-over. I hope you don't find any that disrupt you at all this time :)**

Once up the stairs, Sophie stopped at the door, leaning against it and yawning again. Well, at least she knew she'd sleep well after this. Howl was finally home, and off the battlefield, provided he didn't manage to sneak past Calcifer. Sophie doubted he would, however. Calcifer kept his promises, if that was one thing she'd learned about him.  
"Sophie? Is that you?" Howl's voice sounded from inside the bathroom, echoing a bit as voices always tended to do in bathrooms. Quickly, she straightened up again, hoisting the bandages higher up in her arms.  
"Yes," she called back, slightly embarrassed to have been caught napping. "Do you feel you've soaked enough?"  
"Honestly, the spell takes about 5 more minutes. But I'm fine, Sophie."  
"Stay!" she snapped quickly, trying not to sound angry. She knew him well enough to know, however, that as soon as he'd said that he would have tried to start getting out of the tub. "You're not allowed out until the spell is over. I'll just wait here." Turning, Sophie plopped down in front of the door, leaning against it and letting her head tip back, her eyes coming to rest on the ceiling. Almost immediately, exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her. Nights and days of sitting up and/or burying herself in cleaning as a distraction hadn't exactly been a good idea. Though, she supposed there was nothing much to do about it now. She had a moment to rest, so she'd do just that. Letting her eyes drift closed, Sophie yawned, a small squeak coming from her throat as she did so. The exhaustion rose again, but stronger this time, and strangely amplified. It rose like the moon, slowly, creeping, but undeniably so. Her limbs relaxed, the bandages drifting from her hands down into her lap. Why was she so sleepy? She'd been able to fight it off just moments ago…  
Howl… she whispered, or, at least, she thought she did. She may have just made a breathy sound, or maybe even no sound at all. Had he done something? Sophie couldn't quite decide at the moment, her mind so addled that all she could hold was the name. Just his name. But soon, even that was pulled from her hold as she fell into the void.

This time, what woke her was the sunlight, rather than a door. The beam fell from her window, sneaking through the curtains and landing lightly on her face. Grunting, Sophie grimaced and attempted to roll over. She rolled straight hard, and undeniably not a blanket. Stiffening, Sophie froze, squeezing her eyes shut tightly for a moment before hesitantly peeking under her eyelashes. The sight she met made her relax slightly, and allow her eyes to fall open once more. Howl lay on his stomach next to her, his face calm and serene as only one of a sleeping person could be. It was as if he'd never been injured at all, from the behavior he was showing.  
Injury! Sophie's eyes widened, and she lifted her head off of the pillow, ignoring the few white locks that fell into her vision. It was a good thing she was used to him sneaking into her bed, or her reaction could have been a lot worse. Carefully, as so not to wake him, Sophie scooted herself closer, a small tingle going through her as she felt the warmth of his body caress her side. Propping herself up on her elbows, she reached towards his back, grabbing the edge of the blanket and lifting it slowly up.  
"The potion worked," Howl spoke into the pillow, his voice heavy. "Not a scratch on me, dear heart." Sophie turned her head to glance at him as he turned his own, gazing at her with the ever-so-blue eyes that she loved. She frowned at him, refusing to fall for anything. Grabbing hold of the blanket, she flicked it back, shivering at the cold she was automatically met with.  
He hadn't lied. Before her lay only smooth skin, the only marks being slight pink blotches where the injury had been. It was as if he'd never been injured at all… Sighing in relief, Sophie flopped back on the bed and pulled the covers up over her head, wanting to escape before she got nervous at the sight of him. "Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" she asked, her fingers holding the edge of the blanket tightly in front of her eyes.  
"I was too busy carrying you to grab a shirt. After all, you're the one that fell asleep outside the bathroom." Sophie made to sit up again, wanting to protest that he'd been the one to cast the spell, and that he shouldn't have carried her if he was injured, and probably more, but instead found herself suddenly pinned. Howl rolled easily onto her, resting his elbows easily on either side of her shoulders. "Besides," he said teasingly, ignoring the red quickly rising on her face, and leaning close, his lips caressing her ear in the barest breath of a kiss. "You love when I don't wear a shirt."  
"Pre-preposterous!" Sophie replied, leaning her head back in the pillow to escape, her heart hammering against her chest. How had he known? She did her best not to look whenever he'd walked around without his clothes. "Besides," she said, pulling up her arms and folding them across her chest. "I was forced to see everything when someone decided to have a tantrum while wearing only a towel."  
Howl simply laughed, leaning down suddenly and pressing his lips against hers. Internally, Sophie knew he was just trying to quiet her, but she made no protest, closing her eyes and losing herself in the feel of him, the smell, the brush of his hair against her cheek… She shivered as he leaned on one arm, uncrossing her arms and moving them away from her chest, lowering himself so that his body lay flush against hers, his weight somewhat held by the other elbow still propped on the bed. His other, however, moved freely, coming up to cup her cheek, his thumb running over her eyelid, stroking her eyelashes so that they brushed down against her cheek. Finally, Sophie let herself be lost, breathing in as best she could through her nose and wrapping her arms loosely around his neck. Howl was back. Finally and thankfully home, safe. Each brush of his nose against hers reminded her of that, each stolen breath before diving into each other once more a notice of how much she'd really missed him.  
"Howl," she breathed, surprising even herself at the raw emotion that came through in the tone. The longing, the fear he would leave once more after this moment was over. She kissed him harder, as if it would keep him here longer. Howl pulled away slightly, as if meaning to speak, then gave in again, the hand previously on her cheek moving to tangle in her hair. For a moment, all they were was pure emotion, battling each other as if to become one person. Eventually, however, the broke for air, panting slightly and looking at each other with wide eyes.  
"You're safe, dear heart," Howl whispered, the barest wish of a smile brushing across his lips, just as swollen as hers from the force of their kiss. "I'll not leave you today."  
"Good," was all she said, pulling him down to her and burying her head against him, arms tight around his shoulders. "I missed you, Howl."  
"I missed you too, love," he said, absently twisting a lock of her hair to and fro. His voice was husky, sending shivers down her spine with the mere sound of it. He kissed her again, this time softly, slowly, his weight settling gently on her as his hands ran up and down her, from her head down to her hips and back again, endlessly caressing. Suddenly, he stopped, lifting himself back on his elbows and staring down seriously at her. "Sophie," he said, pausing and licking his lips before opening his mouth to continue. "I-"  
"SOPHIE! WE'RE RUNNING LOW ON WOOD!" Markl's voice rang out, just outside her door, knocking once before bursting open. "And Howl's ba-  
Oh."


End file.
